


What they needed

by Fireflyfantasy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-04 17:45:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12776163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireflyfantasy/pseuds/Fireflyfantasy
Summary: Lance's college roommate Lotor rapes him and his guidance counselor Allura pushes him on her fiance's adopted brother Keith to keep him from dropping out of school and ruining his life. Keith is prickly and the last thing he wants is a roommate. Somehow the too sweet, unconfident Lance gets to him and he finds himself wanting to protect him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ***The rape takes place in this chapter, but it's a brief flashback and not descriptive.*** I don't know why I torture sweet Lance, I just do. All works out eventually. Goal is once a week updates. Seven full chapters done of i don't know how many. Enjoy!

Keith had been orphaned at an early age. His Mom had walked out on him and his father had died when he was just 6. He couldn't really remember much about either of them. He had been a difficult kid and was shuffled from foster home to foster home.

At 14 he ended up with the Shirogane's. They were first time foster parents and they had money, like lots of money. Keith was their first and only foster and figured he would be gone in no time. The couple had a child of their own, 18 year old Takashi, who's friends all called him Shiro. This is what Keith ended up calling him as well. Shiro had the patience of a saint and the high school senior had taken a liking to the prickly damaged foster kid.

When Shiro graduated high school he changed his college plans, attending the local university instead of the out of state school he had planned to attend, he never said but everyone knew he did this to stay close to the young troubled teen his parents had a hard time with. When Keith was 16 the Shirogane's were killed in a small plane crash. Keith should have gone back into the foster care system, but Shiro wasn't going to let that happen. His parents estate attorney helped him get legal guardianship of Keith. Ever since the two had been the only family each other had.

In his Junior year of college Shiro had met Allura and the two were now engaged. After graduating Shiro had joined the air force and was now stationed overseas. Allura lived in the house the two of them shared in the suburbs while Keith lived in the townhouse that the Shirogane's had purchased for Shiro when he was attending college. Now Keith had just finished his Sophomore year at that same college. He was studying environmental engineering. Environmental engineering for a kid who at one point was told he would never amount to anything.

Keith would not be where he was right now if it weren't for Shiro and for that matter Allura. She tended to keep an eye on him and stayed in contact while Shiro was away. Alluro was a grievance counselor at the college Keith attended so they often met for lunch on campus just to stay in touch.

Keith worked as a bartender at Rolo's bar and grill. His friend Nyma's boyfriend Rolo (seriously who names their kid that) owned the place. Keith didn't really have a lot of friends, but the ones he had, he considered really good friends. Other than Shiro and Allura, who were more family than friends, he had Nyma, Rolo and Pidge. Pidge's real name was Katie, but everyone called her Pidge.

Keith liked his nice quiet life which is why when Allura breezed into his house one day and announced that she had found him a roommate he had flipped “No. Not just no, but hell no. Allura, why would you get me a roommate?”

“Keith. I think it would be good for you. You're too solitary and you're just so emo sometimes. Lance is very sweet, he has a wonderful personality. I promise you'll love him.”

“Lance!” Keith spat “Sounds like someone who belongs in a boy band, and I like my solitude. If I wanted a roommate, I would ask Pidge to move in!”

Allura sighed heavily “Keith please. As a favor to me. He's....he's poor and he's on scholarship, but I am afraid if he has to stay on campus again and share a room with another stranger that he will drop out. I am afraid that it could be a catalyst that sets his life on a disastrous course that he doesn't deserve. Last semester he had a violent incident with his roommate. Keith please, he's so sweet. He's pre-law bec”

Keith cut her off “Nope Lawyers are greedy, pieces of shit. I don't want someone who wants to be one living with me. I'm sorry about his trauma, but no.”

“Keith, you didn't let me finish. He's pre-law because he wants to be a pro-bono immigration attorney. He volunteers at the LGBT youth shelter on the weekends and last year he spent his Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring break holidays working in a local homeless shelter making meals and doing cleanup.”

Keith rolled his eyes and hit his head against the wall. _What the actual fuck. Is the guy trying for sainthood. Shit he's like a male Allura. Fuck fuck fuck, I do not need this in my life. Could I really put someone like Allura in a situation that could potentially ruin their life. Shit...._

“Keith, You're not saying anything. If you are truly dead set against this I will try and figure out something else for Lance. The only way I got him to agree to this is because I sort of lied and told him that you were needing a roommate because you didn't like leaving your apartment empty so late when you were bartending. I told him you were going to get one anyway and it might as well be him. I don't think he would take flat out charity if I offered to let him stay with me. And I would Keith. I am that worried about him. Shiro and I discussed it and he told me to do what I needed to, but I just feel like this would be the best option, but if you really”

“Allura stop, just stop. Fine he can move in. Shit.” _Fuck my life._

“I'm so glad you agreed. He'll be here in an hour. Thanks Keith. Love you sweetie.” She swept in kissed his cheek and swept out, leaving Keith staring at her in disbelief. She had totally played him. She knew exactly how to get him to say yes. Keith stood in silence having no time to properly mourn the loss of his solitude.

As Lance pulled into the neighborhood, in his beat up old Honda Civic, following the directions Allura gave him, his first thought was that he didn't belong here. The place was way too nice for a college kid to afford. It was much more an upper middle class family kind of area. _Great I hope my car doesn't get towed. Or even better someone calls the cops to report a suspicious Mexican in the neighborhood._ Lance was Cuban, but he had quickly learned after leaving Miami that white people don't make any distinctions. To them all Latinos are Mexican and that's if they're using nice terminology.

He had been wary to accept Allura's offer, but he just couldn't share a room with someone again after last semester and the thought of spending the summer in a local homeless shelter or sleeping in his car was even less appealing. Of course Allura didn't even know about that part. She had only know about the other because he had sought out grief counseling after the incident with Lotor.

Lotor, his Freshman year roommate had seemed nice enough at first. He was a former high school jock who hadn't been good enough to play sports in college. He had rushed and been accepted to one of the local frats and he mostly just left Lance alone. Lance had to study hard to keep his grades up and after he repeatedly turned down Lotor's invites to go to parties with him, Lotor gave up and left him be.

Then one night in late March Lotor had come back to the dorms drunk. Lance had been sleeping and his roommate walked over and dragged him from his bed by his hair.

_“Hey roomie, guess what I found out tonight. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean it explains a lot.”_

_“Lotor you're drunk. Leave me alo..oof” Lotor had kicked Lance in the stomach_

_While Lance was doubled over on the floor Lotor leaned over and whispered “I heard you like cock.”_

_Lance froze in fear. How could he have found out he was gay. It's not like Lance had dated since he came here. Only a couple of people here knew and Lance considered them close friends they would never betray him. Lotor's words continued “Is it true roomie. Are you a faggot? Have you been lying over here lusting after me all this time.”_

_“What! No Lotor, I swear I” Lotor's fist slammed into Lance's face and he felt blood pouring from his nose. Then Lotor hauled him up by his hair and forced him down over the desk. “Well you're in luck bitch. It just so happens I didn't get laid tonight and you know what, a hole’s a hole.” Lance struggled, but it was laughable, Lotor was twice as big as him. He was brutal as he used Lance in his drunken rage and sexual frustration. Lance had tried to scream, but Lotor covered his mouth with his big hand. It was all Lance could do to breath._

_When Lototr had finished with him Lance curled into a ball in the floor and cried. He knew he was bleeding, a lot. He wanted to die. Sometime before dawn Lance finally managed to make himself move. He pulled himself up off the floor and dragged himself to the showers where he showered until the water ran clear. Once he was back in the room, he packed his things and walked to his car._

He had spent the rest of the semester in a shelter, unable to return to his dorm. No one knew. He went to his classes. Went to his campus job. Even still did his weekend charity work. Maintained his 4.0 as well, all while being homeless.

Lance pulled himself from his thoughts and stared again at the nice brownstone that was to be his new home. Well, I guess it's now or never.

Lance gathered his few belongings and trudged up the steps and rang the bell. The man who answered the door was not what Lance had expected. He had seen a picture of Allura's fiance on her desk during one of their sessions, this guy did not look anything like him. What he did look was pissed off.

Lance had set his box of books on the porch to ring the doorbell so he offered his hand in greeting “Hi, I'm Lance. You must be Keith.”

When the guy just stood, blocking the door with that intense stare Lance glance again at the house number. _Yep, right house_. “Um are you Keith?” This time his voice was unsure.

Still nothing from the man in the doorway. “I....uh....Allura did talk to you, right.” Nothing. “OK...um, I'll just....uh...”

When Keith had opened the door he was surprised by what he found. Allura just gave him a name, Lance McClain. For starters he had been expecting a white guy, not a Latino. Not that he cared either way. The guy did have blue eyes though, wide, unsure blue eyes. He was a couple of inches taller than Keith and his brown hair was just long enough to have a slight curl at the ends. He was also skinny, bordering on scrawny.

As he stood there and stammered through the greeting and then continuing Keith thought to himself that the guy was timid and..... _cute, shit. I do not need this in my life._

Keith realized the guy had picked up his box and was turning to leave. “Wait. Stop. Yes, I'm Keith. Come in.” He rolled his eyes as Lance followed him inside, Keith closing the door behind him. He really didn't want this guy here. “Your room is upstairs on the left. Don't eat any of my fucking food. Or use my damn stuff. The TV is mine, if you want to watch TV, buy your own and put it in your room. The master has a bathroom so feel free to make the guest bathroom your own, but clean up after yourself. And stay out of my fucking bedroom.”

“Um yeah. OK. Thanks Keith”

Keith just watched as the guy walked upstairs and closed the door to the guest bedroom, which was now Lance's bedroom. _Thanks Keith. What the Fuck. Who says thanks for an introduction like that._ Keith sat down on the couch to watch television. He expected the guy to come back down and get more things from his car. He had only come in with a duffel bag, a backpack, and a box of books. Lance never came back down that night. Not even for dinner.

Lance sat in his room after unpacking and just relaxed while reading. Despite the hostile greeting from his new roommate Lance was happy with his new living arrangement. He had his own room. With a door, that locked! If the guy thought a threat of no TV was going to scare him off he was sorely mistaken. He'd been living in a homeless shelter for crying out loud, not exactly the place to catch the nightly news.

Lance felt like he could breathe for the first time in months. His own space. He could occasionally hear sounds coming from inside the apartment, but the door was locked and he had a sense of safety.

The next morning Lance woke early feeling well rested for the first time in a long time. He climbed out of bed and dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a sleeveless hoodie. He put on socks and his running shoes and grabbed his two reusable grocery bags. He left the house, grabbing the key on the kitchen counter on his way out. He jogged to a small local grocer that was just a few blocks from his new home.

Lance grabbed coffee, shampoo/body wash, eggs, some fruits and vegetables, some chicken, and some fajita wraps. Deciding that was about all he could fit in his two bags, Lance paid and walked back to the house. Keith still wasn't up yet so Lance unpacked his groceries. When he opened the refrigerator to put away the perishables he snorted when he saw that Keith had actually written his name on everything currently in the fridge. He could absolutely picture the man with a sharpie angrily marking all of his food.

After putting on some coffee and hoping he didn't get in trouble for using the coffee pot, Lance headed upstairs to shower. Taking longer than he normally would, enjoying a nice hot shower in a private bathroom for the first time in a while. After his shower he headed down to make breakfast, trying to be quiet since Keith was still not up yet. Makes sense, I guess if he is a bartender he probably stays up late and sleeps in a lot.

Lance's omelet was almost done and his toast had just popped when Keith came down and grabbed the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. He had just taken a sip when Lance spoke up in an unsure tone “Good morning. Um, I hope it's OK that I used the coffee maker. I bought my own coffee this morning, so I didn't use yours.” He chuckled uncomfortably.

_Shit. After I bitched at him yesterday and told him not to eat my fucking food, the first thing I do this morning is drink his coffee_. “Uh, yeah it's fine you can use it. I....sorry, I didn't mean to drink”

The other man quickly cut in “No Keith, I didn't mean it like that. Please, drink it. I made extra. It actually looks like we drink the same thing, maybe since we can't make two pots of coffee at once and I usually only drink a cup, we could just take turns buying coffee?”

_I usually drink the whole pot._ Out loud he said “Yeah, sure, whatever, that's fine.” Keith started to take his coffee and head back upstairs feeling completely uncomfortable in his own house, when Lance spoke again “Um, are you hungry?” he questioned unsurely “I made a really big omelet. I doubt I can eat it all. We could split it? And I could make some more toast?”

“No, I hate eggs.” _Fuck that smells amazing, why didn't I just say yes? I hate eggs? What the fuck? I love eggs..._ As Keith turned and drug his tired ass back up the stairs he heard the other man sigh heavily. _Great, I hurt his feelings. Seriously, fuck my life._

It was going to be a long summer.


	2. Why can't they just get along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith keeps Lance out of trouble and the two find out they have a mutual friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got the chapter count fixed. 8 of the 12 are written. Chapters will go up as i have time to edit. Thanks for reading.

“So, how's it going with the roomie?” Nyma asked as she wiped glasses and set them out in preparation for the bar getting busy.

Keith groaned “He's so weird. And fucking annoying. He just stays in his fucking room all the time that he's home except when he cooks and he loves to cook. He's always trying to share his fucking food, which I am pretty sure he's just doing out of spite because of me telling him when he moved in that he was not allowed to eat any of my food. And he sings while he's cooking. In Spanish. I don't even think he fucking realizes he doing it, but it drives me bat shit crazy.”

Keith was going to continue his rant, but he was interrupted by Nyma's laughing “Keith, have you ever thought that maybe he offers to share his food because he's a genuinely nice guy and he appreciates having a place to live?”

“Nobody's that fucking nice, when they live with someone who constantly lets them know they're not welcome.” It had been a month since Lance had moved in and Keith still found that he was as hostile as ever.

Every day he woke up and thought that today he would be nicer to Lance, but then he would see him in his oversized clothes, looking fucking adorable. Lance would give him that big unsure smile like he was pretty sure Keith was going to bite him. And Keith would open his mouth and spew nasty comments or he would just glare and once again he would hate himself and Lance's smile would become more unsure. He would chuckle uncomfortably. His shoulders would slump a little and he would finally look away in defeat, eventually leaving and going back up to his room to spend his day doing God knows what until he left or Keith left for work.

During the week Lance always left around 10:00AM and he usually returned around 1:30PM only to leave again around 4:00 PM and return again around 6:30PM. At least Keith assumed he did the same thing on Thursday and Friday that he did the rest of the week. Keith was always gone by 2 on those days.

On Saturday's and Sunday's he was usually gone before Keith woke up. On those days though Keith knew from Allura's discussion before he moved in that he was doing volunteer work at an LGBT youth shelter.

As the bar started to get busy Keith's thoughts of his roommate dissipated. He found himself lost in the push and pull of a busy Saturday night. Things wound down around one in the morning and Rolo told Keith to go ahead and head home. Keith always came in early and did the bar prep, Nyma and Rolo always closed up.

Keith hopped on his bike and headed home. Once home he walked up the steps and was about to put his key in the door when it opened and a half awake, very rumpled Lance almost ran into him hurrying out. “Keith! Hey, sorry. I'll be back in a little bit.”

As Lance started to walk away Keith grabbed his arm “Woah slow down there hot rod. Where are you going at almost 1:30 in the morning?”

Lance startled when Keith grabbed him and his eyes widened “I...uh, one of my kids. Is in trouble. He called and I need to go get him.” He paused and thought Keith probably had no idea what he was talking about “ I do volunteer work at a shelter for LGBTQ youth. All the kids have my number and I've told them if they ever need help, I would come no questions asked.”

Keith still didn't let his arm go “Where are you headed?”

“Keith, I just told you I..”

“No, Lance, where is this kid? What's the address?”

“Oh, right 3628 South Independence.”

“Are you fucking stupid?!?” When Lance flinched Keith continued “Lance that's a really bad neighborhood.”

Lance licked his lips “Yeah, well.” He looked at Keith with determination “Then you understand why I have to go get him.”

Keith dropped his arm and as Lance turned to go to his car Keith brushed past him “Give me the fucking keys, I'm driving.”

“Keith, you don't have to go. I'm sure you're tired. I can”

“Just give me the keys and get in the damn car.” Lance did as he was told and the two of them headed for the address.

When they arrived it was obvious there had been a big party, but for the most part it seemed to have wound down. There were a few people outside the residence and they all looked like white trash meth heads to Keith. He shuddered when he thought about Lance coming here alone.

As they crossed the lawn and headed up the steps Keith noticed Lance gravitating closer to him.  _ He's scared. Good, maybe the dipshit will think twice before doing something like this by himself. _

Inside the scene was worse. The place smelled like mildew, urine, sex, and vomit and there were people passed out in various places. Keith noticed one that had a needle hanging out of her arm. He didn't realize that Lance had wandered off a little until he heard a drunken snarl “Well what do we have here? Aren't you a pretty one?”

Keith didn't even think he just grabbed the nearest beer bottle as he crossed the room, broke it on a wall and grabbed Lance. As he pushed the other man behind him he gave his own menacing snarl to Lance's would be attacker “Touch him and I'll kill you.”

The man held up his hands to placate Keith “Easy man. I didn't realize he was taken. I was just making small talk.”

“Tch. Whatever asshole.” Keith backed away keeping Lance behind him. Lance was gripping his shirt and as they reached the stairs Keith made sure the drunk bastard was staying put and turned to Lance. Lance's face had paled somewhat and he was shaking. Keith gently shook Lance's shoulders “Hey, come on. Let's go find your kid and get out of here.”

Lance nodded “Yeah OK.” He turned and began to shakily climb the stairs. He only made it about halfway up when a short skinny blonde kid in skinny jeans and a mesh shirt appeared at the top of the stairs. The kid had been wearing mascara and it was streaked down his face making it apparent he had been crying. He bolted down the stairs and threw himself at Lance. Keith let him. He was no threat, Keith knew this is who they were here for.

“Lance! You came! I was so scared. My friends just left me here.” The boy was sobbing as Lance hugged him “I didn't know what to do so I locked myself in one of the rooms upstairs.” He leaned back and sniffled “I saw your car through the window.”

Lance smiled at him “I'm glad your alright Aiden. You are alright? Right? Nothing happened?” Lance asked carefully, looking over the boy. Keith thought the kid could not have been more than 15.  _ What the fuck is he doing here. _

The kid smiled at Lance like the sun shined out his ass, Keith was starting to think it did. “I'm OK Lance. I was locked in a bathroom, hiding. Thanks for coming.” He finally seemed to notice Keith and his grin got bigger “Who's the hottie?” Then his eyes widened “Holy shit Lance is he your boyfriend. Oh my god. Please tell me he's your boyfriend.”

Lanced laughed and ruffled the boy's hair “He's my roommate not my boyfriend. His name is Keith. Keith, this is Aiden.” Keith nodded at the kid as Lance continued “Come on let's get out of here.”

By the time they made it back to the house Aiden was asleep. Lance woke him up and Shepherded him inside. Lance got Aiden settled into his room and he went out to head downstairs to sleep on the couch. When he came out of his room after settling Aiden Keith was in the hall.

Keith opened his mouth to say something when Lance lost his composure and his face crumbled as he leaned against the door frame. He let out a sob “Thank you for going with me if you hadn't, that guy, I”

“It's fine Lance, I was there and nothing happened. Just, promise me that you won't ever go out like that on your own. If I'm at work or something, you call me. I'll find a way to leave. It's too dangerous.”

“Yeah, OK. Thanks again Keith.”

Keith went to bed and he thought that maybe things would be better now. The next day after Aiden went back to the shelter, Lance was back in his room hiding and it irritated Keith to the point that Keith was back to being an asshole.

A month later it was almost time for the fall semester. Lance was glad for a number of reasons. One his on campus job in the administration building was starting back up, he would get to see Allura and he would be getting paid again, which was good since his money from last semester was running out. Two , his friends Pidge and Hunk were back in town. He couldn't wait to see them both. They were going out Thursday night to some bar and grill that a friend of Pidge's worked at. The place apparently was more bar than grill, but had great food. And finally, Lance would be carrying a full load of classes which would mean all the time he spent locked in his room would be spent actually doing something, plus the money from all of his scholarships would come in handy.

The only down side to the start of the fall semester was that Lance would no longer be able to volunteer at the soup kitchen during the week. He liked working there because he felt like he was giving something back for the times he had spent in homeless shelters eating free meals.

Thursday evening when Lance pulled up at Rolo's bar and grill he smiled when he saw his friend Hunk leaned up against his truck. Hunk waved to Lance and Lanced crossed the lot “Hey man, Pidge here yet?”

“Nope, I was the first to arrive.”

“How's your Grandma?”

“She's great. She said to have you come by. She wants to feed you, says you're to skinny.”

Lance laughed. He loved Hunk's grandma. Every time he was there she would shove food in his face the whole time. It was great food, but Lance always felt a little ill when he left because he always overate.

“How's your class load this semester?”

“Dude. It's brutal. And I'll be doing clinicals. I'm trying to figure out how to work a job in somewhere as well, but I'm not sure I'll be able to.” Hunk was majoring in Sports Therapy.

“I'm mostly looking forward to my classes, but I have to take a speech class.”

“Everyone has to take speech. No matter the major, they rope you into that shit.” The two turned at hearing the voice of their friend.

Lance picked her up in a hug “Pidgeon. I'm so glad you're here. I missed you.”

“Dude, put me down.” Pidge rolled her eyes, but smiled as she added “I missed you too. Well, it doesn't look like it's to busy yet. Let's head in. I'll introduce you to my friend and we can get some drinks, grab a table, and order some grub.”

Hunk chimed in “I hear this place has a killer half pound cheeseburger.”

As they approached the door Pidge asked Lance “So how are things going with the roommate? Still a total douche?”

Lance sighed “I told you about him helping me out the one time, so he's not a bad guy. He just really hates me. I don't know why.” He slumped further as he added “Maybe he doesn't like Latnos?”

“Well if that's the case then the guy can go fuck himself.” Pidge added.

Lance was still looking at his feet as they approached the bar.

Keith glanced up with a grin as he saw his friend Pidge walk in the front door with a big guy and someone else Keith couldn't really see following behind them. Pidge hadn't seen him yet she was walking toward the bar and fiestily discussing something.

When Pidge looked up and saw him as the trio got to the bar she grinned widely “Keith! My man! How's it going?”

“Great Pidge! How was your summer?”

“Awesome! Keith these are my friends, Hunk and” as the big guy moved he revealed a shocked Lance who said “Keith” at the same time Keith said a surprised “Lance.”

Pidge paused and looked between the two “Uh, you guys know each other?”

Keith said “Um....yeah, Lance is my roommate.”

Pidge frowned “Are you fuckin' shittin' me? Lance this is your roommate? Keith! Keith is your roommate?”

Lance uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck before nodding and gnawing his bottom lip “Uh yeah.”

Pidge looked thoughtful and then nodded as understanding dawned on her “Hunk, Lance, why don't you boys go sit down while I grab us some drinks.”

Hunk chuckled nervously “Yeah, sure. Nice to meet you Keith.”

“Yeah, you too man.”

As the two walked away Pidge turned and hoisted herself up onto the bar and grabbed Keith by the collar yanking him forward “Listen asshat. I realize your people skills are subpar. So I'm going to give you fair warning. Lance is the nicest human being on the planet. He has been through things that would make the strongest man suicidal, yet he perseveres in hopes that some day his life will not be the total fucking shit fest it is now and he does it all with that beautiful, dopey, unsure smile on his face because his heart is made of sunshine and rainbows and unicorn sprinkles. I swear to all that is scientific in this world if you hurt him I will rip off your testicles and feed them to you for breakfast. Do we understand each other Keith?”

“Um, yes ma'am.”

Pidge hopped back down off the bar “Good, give me two of whatever is on tap and a ginger ale.”

Keith snorted “A ginger ale.”

“It's for Lance, he doesn't drink. Do you have a problem with that?” Pidge asked as she raised an eyebrow.”

“Nope. Absolutely not. Two beers and a ginger ale coming right up.” Keith prepared the drinks and started a tab. As he passes the drinks to Pidge she grabbed his hand “And Keith....thanks for taking care of him last month when he went to get that kid. It could have went real bad real quick.”

“Yeah. I'm actually not a total shit Pidge.”

“I know.” She paused for a moment and then leaned in “Just FYI, he thinks you hate him because maybe you don't like Latinos.”

Keith groaned as Pidge turned to leave  _ Great, he thinks I'm a racist. _

When Pidge got back to the table Lance looked seriously depressed “Pidge, I'm sorry I said all of that stuff about your friend. If you want me to leave, I can.”

Pidge grabbed Lance's hand and squeezed it “You're not going anywhere. And don't worry about what you said. You never said anything bad about Keith. You only stated facts of how he was acting. And Lance, Keith doesn't hate you. He has a really hard time with people OK.”

Lance didn't really look convinced but he nodded “Yeah sure. OK.”

The three of them ordered their cheeseburgers and fries and continued to talk. When Nyma brought their orders out she also brought out a round of drinks. Pidge took a sip and practically moaned “ummm sex on the beach. One of my favs.”

Nyma grinned “On the house.”

Lance looked at the drink in front of him noticing that his straw was a different color “Um, thank you, but I don't drink.”

Nyma smiled at him “I know sweetie. Your's is cuddles on the beach.” She winked at him as she added “Keith made it for you. It's non-alcoholic.” Lance blushed as Nyma turned and walked back to the bar.

Pidge laughed as he took a sip “See, I told you he didn't hate you.”

Their night continued and around 10 Pidge and Hunk switched to soda as the trio headed to play pool. They played pool for a couple of hours before deciding to leave. They headed to the parking lot and said their goodbyes agreeing to try and get together again before school started the next week.

When Lance got in his car it wouldn't start. He popped the hood and looked around as if he knew what he was doing and then sighed dropping his head down to thunk against the hood. He finally gave up, dropped the hood and turned to head back into the bar.

When he got to the bar, Nyma smiled at him “Hey cutie, did you forget something?”

Before Lance could reply Rolo added “We already cleared your table. There wasn't anything left on it.”

“Ah, no. My car won't start and my phone's battery is dead. Would you mind if I borrowed your phone?”

About that time Keith walked out of the back “Hey since it's dead, I'm going to head out.”

Nyma smiled conspiratorially “Perfect timing! Lance's car won't start. He was just going to call a cab.”

Keith nodded “Right. Rolo, can I borrow that extra helmet you keep in your office?”

“Sure dude.”

Keith disappeared and came back with a second helmet, tossing the spare to Lance “You can wear that one. Since it's Rolo's it probably has bugs.”

Nyma chimed in “That's mine, not Rolo's.”

“Forgive me.” Keith turned to Lance and winked “It definitely has bugs.”

Nyma squealed indignantly as she flung her dishrag at Keith “You ass.”

Lance ducked his head following Keith out the door hoping no one noticed his blush.  _ He winked at me. And now I have to ride all the way home on his motorcycle.  _ Lance wondered at the quick beat of his heart.

Keith got on the bike and pulled on his helmet before turning to look at Lance who had pulled on the helmet, but was just standing there. “Well come on.”

Lance climbed on behind Keith and just barely held onto his waist with his hands. Keith revved the engine and took off at a quick speed causing Lance to have to wrap his arms around his waist to keep from falling off.

Keith smiled to himself as they headed toward the house.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Speech class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Motor is in Lance's class. Keith is too.

Keith headed toward his last class on the first day of classes. Fuckin' speech class. So stupid. What the hell would an environmental engineer need speech for? OK so maybe he would have to give an occasional presentation or something, but he really didn't want to take a class where he would have to constantly give speeches on stupid shit he didn't care about.

As Keith walked into the room he glanced around. Most of the classes here were given in stadium seating classrooms. The speech classes however, were meant to be smaller, more intimate. The room was about the size of a high school classroom and instead of desks there were tables, two chairs at each table.

Keith spotted a familiar head of brown hair and smiled when he spotted an empty chair next to him. He crossed the room and dropped his bag “This seat taken.”

Lance looked up in surprise “Keith. Hey, nope, no one here. Have a seat.”

Things had slowly become more comfortable between the two of them since the night Lance visited his place of work. “I didn't realize you had this class.”

Lance smiled brightly as he replied “I had to beg to get in. It's required for my major, I think it's required for everyone, but I have everything planned out. And this was the only time that this class could be taken in order for me to be able to graduate in 3 years. So”

“3 years!? Lance that's insane.”

Lance chuckled “Yeah, well I am taking summer classes and I am carrying the max number of hours every semester.”

“Lance! I can't believe we are fortunate enough to share a class.” Lance froze and Keith turned around to see the source of the voice. What he found was some pompous looking ass with ridiculously long platinum blonde hair that was almost white. The guy shifted his focus to Keith “Hello. The name's Lotor. Lance and I were roommate's last year. You don't mind if I sit here so we can catch up do you?”

Keith glanced at Lance and saw that he looked like he was about to pass out. “No. I think we're good. I'm his roommate now. So....piss off.”

Keith turned to Lance hoping the guy would leave, but he just continued “Lance and I share a special relationship. I'm sure you'll underst”

Keith cut Lotor off as he stood and got right in his face “I said piss off.”

The professor entered the room about that time “Everyone take a seat.” Lotor huffed and walked to the back of the room taking an empty seat. When Keith sat and turned back around Lance grabbed the hand that he sat on the table. Keith turned his hand over and threaded his fingers through Lance's.

Lance leaned over and whispered “Keith. I need to leave. I can't...”

“Breathe Lance.” Keith squeezed his hand “You'll be fine. I'm right here.”

Keith realized Lance was definitely not fine. Keith was pretty sure that Lance was going to hyperventilate.

Fortunately it sounded like the class was going to be a short one. The teacher handed out the syllabus and went over it. Unfortunately, given that it was a speech class and it only contained about 25 students, she also wanted everyone to introduce themselves.

“I would like everyone to stand up, give their name, their major, their year, and tell us about a hobby or a fun fact about themselves. We'll start at the back.”

When it was Lotor's turn he stood told his name and just kept talking about himself. The more he talked the harder Lance squeezed Keith's hand. Finally the professor cut him off. “Thank you Mr. Prince, I'm afraid we need to move on.”

The introductions continued around the room. When it was Lance's turn he stood and cleared his throat and quietly said “My name is Lance McL”

Someone shouted from the back “We can't hear you.” Keith gritted his teeth, it was that shit Lotor. The professor glanced sympathetically at Lance “Mr. McClain, please speak up. We're all friends here.”

Lance nodded and started again a little louder “My n n na name is Lance McClain. I'm a S s s so sophomore. My major is pre-l la la law. I v v v vo volunteer at th th th a youth shelter on we we weekends.”

Lance sat down mortified as several people in the back of the class laughed, including Lotor. The professor admonished them and looked to Lance “Thank you Mr. McClain. Don't worry about your stutter. That's something that we'll work on in this class, that's what we're here for.”

Keith sneered, Lance didn't have a stutter before that shit Lotor walked into class this evening. The professor had turned to him “alright, we have one last introduction and we can all get out of here.”

Keith stood and carded his hand through Lance's hair. He left it there as he gave his introduction “My name is Keith Kogane. I'm a Junior. I'm an environmental engineering major. I'm Lance's roommate and I care about him.” someone in the back said “sounds gay” and laughed, but Keith continued talking over them “My only real hobby is beating the shit out of people who hurt the people I care about.” He turned around and looked right at Lotor “I guess I'm pretty boring compared to some people in this class.”

Everyone in class was dead silent and much to Keith's delight Lotor looked scared. The professor just looked startled and she clapped her hands and said “Well then. Thank you for that enlightening introduction Mr. Kogane. Class is dismissed everyone. I will see you all back here on Wednesday.”

The class cleared out, Lotor being one of the first people out the door. Keith took Lance's hand and pulled him towards the lot his bike was in. Lance just followed like a zombie. Once they were there Keith lifted the seat and pulled his helmet out he put his bag in and handed the helmet to Lance.

Lance looked up at him bewildered “Keith...what...I can't....my car?”

“Put the helmet on Lance. I'm not going to let you drive home like this.”

“But....what are you going to wear?”

“I'll be fine. It won't be the first time I've ridden without a helmet. I mostly just wear it to keep Allura off my ass anyway.”

That seemed to pull Lance out of it a little bit “Hey, don't ride without a helmet, OK.”

“Yeah, yeah. After we get you home, I'll always wear one. Yadda, yadda. Get on.”

“Keith I'm serious. You said you care about me.” Lance looked down at the helmet in his hand and frowned “I don't have a lot of people who care about me.”

Keith reached out and took the helmet from Lance. He placed it on Lance's head and smiled at him “I promise Lance, I'll always wear my helmet.”

Lance climbed onto the back of Keith's motorcycle and this time he held on for dear life as Keith headed for home.

When they reached the house Lance had reverted back to being upset. When they got inside Lance started pacing “Keith, what do I do. I need that class, but I can't, you don't understand.”

Keith stopped Lance and held his shoulders “Lance, I'll be right there with you, OK.”

Lance was having a breakdown “No no no no no, I can't I can't, you don't understand, I can't”

“If you drop this class it will change your graduation track. Don't let that assh”

“HE RAPED ME!” Lance's hand flew to his mouth as he turned to run up the stairs. He hadn't meant to tell Keith, he didn't need anyone else to know his shame. He didn't need anyone else to know he was week, he was dirty.

Lance tripped over the bottom stair and would have face planted if Keith hadn't caught him. Keith pulled him into a hug “I know Lance, I know.”

Lance's voice sounded betrayed “Did Allura tell you?”

“No, she told me that you had a violent encounter with your roommate, but I figured out the rest on my own. No one is that afraid of someone who just beat them up. But Lance, you can't let him win. You can't let that bastard change the course of your life. He's taken enough from you.”

Lance sighed heavily and lowered himself to sit on the bottom step. Keith continued “We'll always ride to that class together. I'll make sure the bastard never bothers you.”

“Great so instead he gets to ruin your life.”

Keith shook his head “Lance, I'm going to class anyway, and you're my friend. Besides, it makes sense for us to carpool. I'll even get an extra helmet.”

Lance rolled his eyes “I do have a car you know.”

Keith chuckled “Oh no. Not happening. I'm not getting in that piece of shit again.”

Lance scoffed, then sniffled “My car is not a piece of shit. It's a classic.”

“No Lance, a '67 Mustang is a classic. Your car is a piece.”

“Harsh dude. Harsh.”

That night Lance had a nightmare for the first time in almost 2 months. He had them almost every night after it had happened, but between the counseling with Allura and moving into a house with not only a door that locked, but his bedroom door locked as well, he hadn't had a nightmare in months.

Tuesday, Lance was doing some filing work in the administration building when Allura walked out of her office “Lance! I'm so glad you're working today! I've missed you.”

“Hey Allura. How was your summer?” Lance kept his head down working on the files.

“Lance, what's wrong?” When Lance didn't answer immediately Allura barreled on “Is it Keith, It's Keith isn't it? He's being a shit. I swear I will”

“Allura stop, it's not Keith. I mean the beginning was a little rough, but we're getting along now and last night....He really came through for me when I needed someone.”

“Lance?” This time Allura's voice was much softer. She looked over to Lance's supervisor “Eleanor, would you mind if I borrowed Lance to help me out with putting together a fundraiser communication.

Eleanor smiled “Of course not dear. Whatever you need.”

Allura grabbed Lance's arm and tugged him into her office. As soon as the door closed Allura pointed at the chair in front of her desk “Sit.”

“I shouldn't be getting paid to sit in here and talk to you.”

“I don't care Lance.” She sat on the edge of her desk and looked at him “Talk. Tell me what happened.”

“Lotor was in my speech class last night.”

“Oh Lance.”

“I just” Lance took a deep breath “Can you believe he walked up and just started talking to me like we were old friends? He tried to get Keith to move so he could sit by me!”

“That's what people like him do Lance. When you moved out last semester you took away any opportunity for him to have power over you. He's trying to find a way to insinuate himself back into your life and have a hold over you. You can't let him Lance. You have to show him that he doesn't get piece of your soul.”

“Yeah, I know. Keith said the same thing.”

“He did” Allura sounded surprised “His solution usually involves violence.”

“Oh, well. That's what he said when he got home. In class he told Lotor to piss off.”

Allura laughed “That sounds more like Keith.”

Then Lance told her about his introduction “Oh dear heavens no.” she looked horrified “Poor Dr. Mansfield. She must have been beside herself.”

Lance just chuckled “yeah she didn't really seem to know what to say.”

Allura got serious again “You had a nightmare again last night?”

Lance nodded.

“Please let me know if there's anything I can do sweetie.”

“You've already done a lot Allura. Like way more than I could ever ask for.”

As Lance got up to leave Allura hugged him and once he had left she texted Keith Are you available for lunch.

Sure. I have a break in about 15 mins.

Great. Meet you at the food court.

20 minutes later Allura walked into the campus food court and saw that Keith already had a table. When she got to the table he wave and said hello, but she said “stand up.”

Keith raised and eyebrow but did as he was told “What's up?” He was mildly startled when Allura threw her arms around him and hugged him, tight, and didn't seem to want to let go.

Keith hugged her back “Lura you're freaking me out. Is Shiro OK?”

“Oh, no Keith. I'm sorry. Shiro is fine. I'm just” Her eyes watered as she sat down “I just got done talking to Lance.”

Keith stiffened and briefly panicked “Is Lance OK.”

“Of course not, but I think he will be.” She sighed and looked down at her hands “He told me what you did for him last night Keith. You have no idea what that means to me. What it meant to him.”

Keith raised an eyebrow “It really wasn't that big a deal.”

“But it was Keith. He doesn't have a lot of people he can depend on. I'm glad you were there for him. And I know that I have seriously reprimanded you for fighting and told you it was stupid and childish. But if you punched that Motherfucker in the face I wouldn't say a word one about it.”

Keith's mouth dropped open “Did you just say Motherfucker?”

“I did.” Allura nodded to further confirm “It seems a fitting description.”

Keith nodded “That it does.”

“Just, promise me you'll keep an eye out for Lance. I know you don't need to babysit, but”

“You don't have to worry about him Allura. I got this.”


	4. Date night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a date. Keith is not sure how he feels about it.

Lance came down the stairs and was surprised to see Keith sitting on the couch “Hey! Do you not work tonight?”

“Nope. Every 6 months Rolo has a couple of the other regulars come in and work the Saturday night shift so me, him, and Nyma can go out and do something.”

“That's cool. So you guys are pretty close?”

“Yeah. Nyma and I were in school together and we even shared a foster home at one point. So she's always kind of been like a sister to me.” Keith took a minute to take in Lance's appearance. He had obviously worked to try and get his hair to lay down. He was wearing clean skinny jeans and a t-shirt with a sweater over it and a pair of canvas sneakers. He even looked like he might have put on some makeup because Keith couldn't see his freckles. Maybe concealer?

“Where the fuck are you going? You look like one of those fucking hipsters.”

Lance blushed “Is it that bad. I look stupid don't I. Shit, I feel stupid.”

“You don't look stupid.”  _ You look irritatingly fucking adorable, except that I can't see your freckles  _ “Seriously where are you going?”

“I have a date.”

Keith raised his eyebrows “A date? Are sure that you're ready for that?”

“No. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for that. And I feel awkward and stupid. I would never wear. God what was I thinking. I should just cancel.”

“No. Where are you going, what are you doing, who's the guy?”

“We're meeting at the restaurant. If things go well there then we are both going to drive and meet each other at a club to go dancing. I made sure I wouldn't be alone with him. His name is Jerek, we have a criminal justice class together. He seems really nice and we've actually had lunch together on campus a couple of times.”

“OK. Watch your drink. Stay aware of what's going on, and call me if you feel uncomfortable and need an out.”

Lance laughed “OK Mom.”

“I'm serious smart ass.”

Lance opened the door to leave and ran into Nyma and Rolo who had just arrived to pick up Keith. Nyma pounced on Lance “Hey cutie! You look adorable. Oh my god. Please tell me you're going with us!”

Keith cut in “Let him go Nyma. He has a date.”

“Awww, boo.” She stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout “Have fun cutie!”

“Yeah. You too.”

When the door closed Nyma zeroed in on Keith “So, pretty Lance has a date. How does Keith feel about that?”

Keith rolled his eyes “Keith doesn't give a shit.” _I'm irritated and worried sick about him._ Out loud he said “Keith needs to get laid. That is the mission for the evening right?” Keith pulled two beers out of the fridge. “Who's driving?”

Nyma pouted a little “Me. I lost the coin toss. AGAIN!”

“Still hasn't figured that out yet huh.”

Rolo grabbed the extra beer with an exaggerated grin “Shut the fuck up Keith.”

Keith snorted. Rolo had two coins. One had heads on both sides, one had tails on both sides. Whichever Nyma called, he would pull the other out to flip it. Keith didn't mind because Nyma got really drunk really fast and was a terrible drunk.

“So I guess Nyma is picking the food then. Does that mean we are eating Italian?”

“Heck yeah.” Nyma shouted before turning her attention back to the previous topic “Seriously. It doesn't bother you that your sweet, adorable, funny roommate who can also cook and apparently has a heart of gold is going on a date.” Ever since Nyma had gotten to know Lance, she had decided that he would be perfect for Keith. And no matter how much Rolo and Keith told her to mind her own business, she still put her two cents in every chance she got.

Fortunately she hadn't said anything to Lance. Nyma didn't know anything about what Lance had been through. It wasn't Keith's place to tell her, but he felt like if she did, she would back off a little.

Keith sighed “No Nyma. Let it go.”

“Sure Keith.”

Lance was dismayed that his date was not really going as well as he had hoped. First, his date kept trying to push alcohol on him. He had just told him for the third time that he didn't drink. Second, Jerek kept texting on his phone. He said it was just his Mom, that she was excited about his date, but Lance wasn't buying it.

When dinner was done Lance had decided he was going to head home “Hey, I really appreciate dinner. I had a great time, but I'm exhausted. I think I'm just going to head home.”

Lance thought he saw irritation flash across Jerek's face before he gave that charming smile of his “Awe, come on babe. I really wanted a chance to go dancing with you.” He took Lance's hands in his and gave him a puppy dog pout “Please, it'll be fun. Just a few dances and if you still want to leave that's fine.”

Lance was too nice for his own good “OK. Sure, where are we meeting?”

“It's a place called the Body Shop. You can follow me.”

“OK. I'll see you there.”

The Body Shop was loud and bright with a lot of sweaty bodies all out on a huge dance floor grinding to the beat of some crazy music the DJ was spinning.

“I'm going to grab us a couple of drinks, see of you can get us a table.”

“Wait, I” Jerek was already heading to the bar.  _ Oh well, I don't have to drink it.  _ Lance made his way through the push and pull of the dance floor to the area with the tables. The bar area, the tables, and a hallway to the side were all elevated around the sunken dance floor. By the time Lance found a table he was sweaty himself. He pulled off the sweater and waved to Jerek.

When Jerek finally made it over he offered Lance a glass “Ginger ale for the Non-Drinker.”

Lance smiled “Thanks.”

As Jerek sat down at the table Lance found himself drinking the ginger ale. By the time he got to the bottom of the glass, the room was spinning. He pulled out his phone and fumbled with it. Jerek reached across the table and plucked it out of his fingers. Lance looked at him confused “I don't feel so good. I'm just going to call my roommate.”

Jerek look at something behind Lance and chuckled “Perfect timing. You didn't tell me he didn't fucking drink. I didn't know how much to give him so I just doubled the dose.”

Lance tried to turn his head, but nothing seemed to work right. That's when he heard a voice whisper in his ear that sent chills of terror down his spine “Hello Lance. Miss me.”

As Keith, Nyma, and Rolo approached the Body Shop they heard a familiar voice “Now how the hell are you three off and out on a Saturday night.”

Nyma ran forward and threw herself at the big bouncer working the door “Twitch! My favorite bouncer. Keith is in desperate need of a good fuck, so you know.”

The big man laughed. He knew the trio well as he sometimes worked security when Rolo's bar had big events. “Well you picked a good night for it.” As the three passed by he bumped fists with Rolo and then with Keith “Good Luck man. Not that you need it”

Keith laughed “Thanks Twitch.”

The three made their way to the bar and got drinks before surveying the scene to see if they might be able to grab a table. As Keith's eye rolled over the crowd checking out possible hookups Rolo commented “Shit, that poor guy is fucked up. He can't even walk.”

Keith turned to look where Rolo was pointing over toward the back rooms the Body Shop was famous for. He caught sight of the man about the time his head lolled to the side. Keith stiffed and Rolo said “Fuck is that”

Keith cut him off “Nyma! get security, bring them to the back rooms!” As he was yelling he was already shoving his way across the floor with Rolo right behind him. At least one of the three people with Lance had been Lotor. Keith was going to kill that son of a bitch.

“FUCKING MOVE GODDAMIT!” Keith continued to shove and finally, after what felt like forever, broke through the other side. Turning to run down the first of two halls that contained rooms that people could borrow for “encounters.”

The rooms did not have locks on them to keep from being shut down for legal reasons. Keith threw open the first door and had some startled twink that was being pounded by a bear look up at him. The twink looked him up and down.

Keith said “Sorry, wrong room.” as he closed the door he heard a call of “You can join us.”

The second door had a couple going at it so hard they didn't even notice the door being opened. Keith started to open the third when he heard a shout from the next door down “Fucking shit just bit me.”

Keith and Rolo ran to that door and threw it open. Keith felt some relief to see that even though Lance's pants had been shoved down under his ass, he had been struggling enough that the three men in the room with him had been unable to get themselves out of their pants. One of the men was holding his hand, which was obviously what Lance had bit.

Another had Lance pinned down over a table. Lotor was standing to the side and sneered at Keith “You.”

Keith crossed the room in a flash and grabbed Lotor by the back of his head and smashed his face into the table. As Lotor's head came back up, blood gushed from his nose “You son of a bitch. I fink you brote my futing nobe.”

Keith was going for one of the others when Rolo grabbed him “Let security handle it Keith.Just take care of Lance.”

The guys who had been holding Lance down pulled him up and shoved him at Keith who caught him before he could hit the ground “Security. What the fuck. I didn't sign up for this. I'm out of here.”

He made a run for the door and ran smack into Twitch.

Keith cradled Lance who had tear stains on his cheeks. He pulled his pants back up as best he could and brushed his hair off of his sweaty forehead. “Lance, can you hear me.” No response. “Lance, come on sweetheart. Talk to me.” Lance was out cold.

Keith turned to see that another security member had joined Twitch “Check their pockets. They gave him something!”

One of the smart asses said “He's just drunk. Can't handle his liquor.”

This time a really pissed off Nyma chimed “He doesn't drink shit stain. What did you give him and how much! HE'S FUCKING UNCONSCIOUS!”

Lotor snorted then winced holding his gushing nose “We didn't give him anything”

Nyma jumped on his back “YOU HURT MY LANCE. I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Rolo had to grab her and pull her off “For fuck sake woman. Let security do their job.”

Twitch pulled a bottle of ketamine out of Jerek's pocket. “It's over kid. The cops are almost here. You need to tell us how much you gave him, it could kill him. You want to go to jail for assault or murder?”

“I gave him two.”

Keith picked Lance up off the floor and started to leave the room with him when the other security guard held his hand up, listening to his ear piece. “The paramedics are here. We called them as well as the cops. They're on their way back.”

The little group sitting in the ER waiting room had grown. Keith, Nyma, and Rolo had been joined by Pidge, Hunk, and even Allura. No one would tell any of them anything. None of them were family. Allura had even gone to the school and pulled Lance's records to contact someone in his family and found that he had not complete any information for family history, nor did he have any emergency contacts.

When Hunk and Pidge arrived they said that Lance didn't really have the best relationship with his family. When the group tried to get them to expand on that the two said it wasn't their place to tell that story.

The police had come and gone. Countless cups of coffee had been drank. No one was leaving until they knew Lance was OK.

Lance came to slowly. He could hear the whirring and beeps of machines. He had an IV in his arm. He was in a hospital. He didn't remember how he got here. The last thing he remembered was wanting to call Keith to come get him and Jerek took his phone away.  _ Why did he take my phone. Wait....Lotor was there. Oh god....no, please no. _

Lance was suddenly in distress. The beeping of the machines got louder and a nurse rushed in “Calm down, calm down Mr. McClain. Let me get your doctor.”

The doctor came in. He did some tests, asked some questions. Next came the police. They also asked some questions, but Lance was not very helpful. They told him that he had been drugged. That he had received a nearly lethal dose of Ketamine. They told him that if his friends hadn't found him, he probably would have been raped and could have died.

“Wait, my friends?”

 

“Yes sir. A Keith Kogane, Nyma Reynolds, and Rolo Grayson.”

“They were there?

“They saw you being dragged to a back room and followed and got security involved. Well, let us know if you remember anything else.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

The sun was starting to come up before Lance was finally released. A nurse came in with is discharge papers and his clothes, which he really didn't want to put back on, but he had no choice. As she turned to leave the room he asked “Excuse me. I don't have my phone. Where would I be able to call a cab?”

The nurse looked momentarily surprised and then she smiled softly as she responded “If you get out to the ER waiting room and feel like you still need a ride, ask the front desk.”

“Um OK. Thanks.”  _ What was that about? _

When Lance reached the waiting room he was overcome with emotion. Several heads came up to see who had come through the door. He took quick note of the occupants. Nyma, asleep with her head in Rolo's lap. Rolo, running his hands through her hair. Pidge and Hunk slumped against one another, Hunk asleep, but Pidge staring straight at Lance with tears in her eyes. Allura, who had obviously been crying had a soft smile, like she was happy to see him up and about.

And then there was Keith. Keith who's hair was sticking up at odd angles as though he had pulled it in frustration more than once. Keith had stopped mid pace. He rushed forward and pulled Lance into a hug “You stupid fucking idiot.”

“Kieth?”

“They wouldn't tell us anything. I didn't even know if you were alive.”

“I'm OK Keith. Sorry I caused everyone so much trouble.”

As the other occupants woke up they all made their way to Lance and he got hugs from everyone before finally following Keith out to Allura's car. She took the two for breakfast before taking them home.

  
  



	5. Sleeping arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is having nightmares and he finally tells Keith about his family.

The nightmares had gotten worse. Lance was having them every night now. Ever since his date had drugged him and set him up to be gang raped, apparently at the request of Lotor, Lance dreaded going to sleep. Which is why when he trudged up the stairs and heard what sounded like the start of Hocus Pocus coming through Keith’s open bedroom door Lance took a chance and stuck his head in.

“Oh my god I love this movie. We used to watch it every year when we were kids. Momma would make sugar cookies and Papi would make his famous apple cider and we would all gather around the TV and watch this. And then It’s the great pumpkin charlie brown. I wouldn’t have taken you for a fan though.”

Keith glance up from his laptop and chuckled “Yeah, no, definitely not. I’m studying for a big test I have tomorrow. I just like having some background noise.” He looked up at Lance and took in his appearance. He looked exhausted. He had bags under his eyes and he looked like he was losing weight that he could not afford to lose. His oversized sweatshirt seemed to swallow him more than it had before. Between that and the PJ pants, he looked like a lost little boy. All he needed was a teddy bear hanging by one arm in his hand.

Keith knew he was having nightmare, but he didn’t know what to do for him. More than once he had come home after work and heard Lance crying out in his sleep. Keith would wake him and Lance was always embarrassed. He would mumble an apology before shutting himself in the bathroom and taking a really long shower.

Keith reached out and grabbed the notebook that was on the other side of his King size bed and patted the mattress “Feel free to hang out and watch it if you want.”

“Seriously?” Lance asked hopefully “I won’t be bothering you?”

“Nope, you should know by now, I don’t offer if I don’t mean it.”

“Yeah OK.” Lance ran to his room and grabbed a pillow before coming back and climbing under the covers, propping himself up to watch the movie.

Keith continued to work on his project until he finally was overwhelmed by the need to ask Lance about something that had been bothering him since he had been in the hospital. “Hey Lance can I ask you something?”

“Sure what’s up.”

“It’s kind of personal, so if you don’t want to say, you don’t have to.”

Lance looked apprehensive but he nodded “OK.”

“You talk about your family a lot, it sounds like you had a really good childhood and it sounds like you were all really close. When you were in the hospital, Allura pulled your files trying to find an emergency contact and you didn’t have anyone listed. She said your family history was blank. What happened?” 

Lance looked down at his hands that were folded in his lap and sighed heavily “Well, that’s my fault. The bad relationship, I mean.”

When he didn’t expand on that Keith said “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“I should have known and I shouldn’t have said anything.” In a low mutter he continued “So stupid, I lost everything.” A tear slid down his face and he took a deep breath “My family is Catholic. I mean like real Catholic. They attend every service, every function, always volunteer. Every member of my family went to confession every week. My Senior year I was dating a guy and I thought it was serious. I wanted to go to Prom with him, but he said he wouldn’t go unless I told my parents about us.”

Lance paused and Keith felt sick, knowing where this was going.

“So the night before prom I came out to my parents. My Momma started praying and my Papi got scary quiet. He told me I needed to get out of his sight. I went to my room thinking maybe it would blow over and they would realize I was still me and they would love me. My Papi came to my room later. He was drunk. He said….” Lance paused and took a deep breath, obviously  having a hard time with with the story “He said he would beat the faggot out of me. He said no son of his would be a sodomite.” Keith’s jaw dropped, he had not known where this was going. He was just thinking Lance had been thrown out. “The bat caught the side of my head first”

“What the fuck Lance, he had a bat?”

Lance nodded “After the hit to the head I curled up into a ball and just hoped he didn’t kill me. My brothers drug him off of me, but only long enough to drag me down the stairs and put me on the neighbor's front porch. My neighbors took me to the hospital. I ended up getting 23 stitches to the head from that first blow. He also broke one of my arms and 3 ribs. Apparently I got lucky though. No internal organs were punctured.”

Lance reached out and took Keith’s hand. He pulled it up to the side of his head and pushed his fingers through his hair “There, do you feel that?”

Keith nodded in shock as he ran his fingers along the scar on Lance’s scalp.

Lance continued with a bitter laugh “Needless to say I missed prom. I also missed graduation. I was class valedictorian and I missed my own graduation. And the guy that I thought it was a good idea to ruin my life for didn’t even come see me in the hospital.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up Lance.”

“It’s OK. My siblings, even the ones who were married with children received an ultimatum, Cut me out of their life, or they were no longer part of the McClain family. I haven’t spoken to any of them since then. After I was released from the hospital, I actually lived in a homeless shelter until it was time to leave Miami to come here for school. That’s why I try to volunteer at shelters as much as possible. I feel like it’s paying back for what I needed.”

Lance laid back down as Keith restarted the movie. Lance didn’t really want to watch anymore, but he also didn’t want to go back to his own bed. “You know the worst part. My sister Nina, who I’ve always been closest to, was studying abroad when it happened. She would have been the one person who might have risked Papi’s wrath to help me. She’s also the one person who might have gotten away with it.”

Keith just wanted to lock Lance in the house so noone could ever hurt him again. He didn’t know what to say so as he watched Lance get back into his favorite childhood movie, Keith went back to his studying. Withing half an hour Keith realized Lance had fallen asleep curled up on his side. Keith turned off the TV and spent another hour studying before realizing he had read the same sentence 5 times.

He closed his laptop and books and got up to stack everything on the small desk in his room. He brushed his teeth, before crawling into bed and turning out the lights.

Lance slowly woke as the alarm sounded. He reached out for his nightstand to turn it off and his hand met air. Disoriented he slowly took in his surroundings and startled a bit when a hand fell on his shoulder “Hey, you have a” Keith yawned loudly before finishing “8:00 class right?”

Lance froze.  _ What the hell. I fell asleep in Keith's bed. Shit shit shit.  _ “Uh yeah, sorry about.”

“Don't worry about it.”

Keith had let him stay and had even set an alarm so he wouldn't miss his first class. Lance wandered to his room and gathered things to shower as he realized that was the first night in weeks that he hadn't had a nightmare.

After that night Keith made it a habit of watching a movie before bed and Lance made it a habit of crawling in bed with him to “watch the movie” and would end up falling asleep with him. He also started hanging out at Rolo's a lot. He would go every Thursday night until Keith got off and every Friday until the bar got busy and he felt guilty for taking the table.

Keith had noticed that Lance would still be up when he got home, huddled on the couch. The relief on his face when Keith walked in caused a wave of emotions to run through Keith. He felt selfish because of how much he enjoyed that Lance obviously relied on him. Keith had never had anyone need him. At the same time it was kind of scary having someone need you that much. Enough so that he brought it up to Nyma one Saturday before the bar got busy.

“I just don't know how to feel about it. It's nice to have someone that needs me, but at the same time, it's scary. What if I let him down? I mean, seriously of all the people in the world to rely on I am the least reliable.”

“Don't sell yourself short sweetie. Besides I've been around you two enough to see that it's not all that one sided. You're pretty dependent on him too. I've seen the little ways he takes care of you. He cooks dinner for the two of you every night. I've seen what you bring in here to eat. Wish somebody cooked for me like that.”

Keith rolled his eyes “You make us sound like an old married couple.”

“I don't know why you're not.” Nyma teased as she winked.

Keith was concentrating on what he was doing and working to ignore her. She looked at him and asked “Something else happened didn't it? It wasn't just the one time at the bar. Someone hurt him before.”

Keith sighed “It's not for me to tell.”

Nyma nodded and hummed “You just did.”

The next Friday when Lance started to pack up his things Rolo showed up at the table with a basket of wings and a soda “I need you to stay. We gave Keith a ride to work, but he's gonna need a ride home.”

“I hate to use a table when you guys are so busy...”

“Don't worry about it, one table is not going to make a dent in this crowd.”

“OK” Rolo didn't hear his response as he was already gone.

Around one in the morning Keith slid in the booth across from him “Hey, you ready.”

“Yeah let me finish outlining this piece.”

“K”

When Lance was done he closed his book and his laptop and put it all in his backpack “Is something wrong with your bike?”

“Nope, it's getting too cold to be riding in the middle of the night. You don't want me to freeze to death do you?” It was mid November and temperatures in the late night and early morning were in the low teens.

That night Keith was exhausted. The bar had been more busy than normal and the crowd had been rowdy. Keith was tired of the movie watching pretense so he just changed his clothes and went to bed not at all surprised when he heard Lance crawl into his own bed about 20 minutes later.

Lance wasn't sure what to do when Keith just turned out the lights and went to bed, but he knew he didn't have the courage or the balls to just go crawl in bed with him. He brushed his teeth and changed into his sweatshirt and PJ pants before turning out his light and getting into his own bed. Maybe he would be fine. It's been over a month, maybe his nightmares won't come back.

His room flooded with light right before he heard Keith say “Lance, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Um, sleeping.”

Keith walked over and yanked his pillow out from under his head “You're being ridiculous. Come to bed.”

Lance couldn't help but smile to himself as he got up and followed his best friend to the other room. He had spent so much time worried about whether or not he was going to irritate Keith because he was too clingy, but it seems like maybe Keith's OK with him being a little clingy.


	6. Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two spend the holidays together and Lance gives his final exam speech. Keith has a revelation and struggles with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all of your comments. I love reading them, they keep me writing. Enjoy!

The Thanksgiving Holiday found Lance at the Shirogane house celebrating with Keith and Allura. He kept saying he didn't want to intrude on their family time, but they had both insisted.

 Keith and Lance had showed up around 9AM to help Allura prepare everything but the Turkey and as Keith was setting the table the doorbell rang, followed by the sound of the front door opening. Keith's brows furrowed and he started toward the Foyer when Allura flew passed him as she and Lance both exited the kitchen. Keith looked to Lance who just shrugged.

 The two made their way to the foyer where Keith dropped the flatware he had in his hands “Shiro!” Keith ran forward as his brother let go of Allura and gave him a one arm hug.

“Hey kiddo. I've missed you.”

 “How are you here? Allura why didn't you tell me? When did you...” Keith trailed off as he noticed the pinned up half of the sleeve on one of Shiro's arms “What....what happened?”

“I was part of a convoy that hit an IED. I actually came out lucky.” Shiro looked down as he continued “Some of the guys didn't make it.”

Keith was angry “You're in the Air Force. AIR FORCE! What were you even doing on the ground?”

Shiro sighed “I can't tell you that Keith.”

Lance was torn between comforting his upset best friend and sneaking out because he wasn't family and he really didn't feel like he should be witnessing any of this. He hadn't realized he had been slowly backing up trying to make himself smaller until Shiro zeroed in on him.

“You must be Lance.” Lance froze “It looks like you're trying to sneak off, which with everything I've heard about you, sounds like something you would do in this situation.” Lance's eyes grew comically wide. _He knows about me?_ Shiro continued “You think you shouldn't be here?”

Lance looked embarrassed but nodded and then looked down at his shoes. Then he heard Keith say “Do you see this shit I have to put up with?” As he passed Lance to go back to finish setting the table he thunked him in the forehead “You're not going anywhere.”

Allura trailed behind Keith patting Lance on the shoulder as she passed. When Lance awkwardly turned back around, Shiro was right in front of him. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's really nice to finally get to meet you.”Shiro held out his hand for Lance to shake. As they shook hands Shiro continued “Keith's going to be really upset about this. He's going to need someone to take care of him. Think you can handle that.” Lance nodded, doubtful that Keith needed him for anything.

The rest of dinned passed fairly uneventful with Shiro embarrassing Keith with stories of him as a rebellious emo teenager. To which Keith would tell his own stories about Shiro the suave Senior playboy that he moved in with when he was the rebellious emo teenager. It was obvious these stories embarrassed Shiro as Allura giggled with delight.

After dinner the four of them broke out a new board game Allura had bought, Pandemic Legacy. “Now how is this different from the other Pandemic game we’ve been playing?” Keith asked.

Keith and Lance tried to have dinner and play games with Allura every other Sunday. Their favorite games were cooperative. It kept them from wanting to kill Keith.

Allura responded “Well with Legacy, each game builds on the previous game. So decisions we make in this game could help or hinder us in future games.”

Lance nodded “So, no pressure.”

Keith and Lance ended up staying pretty late so by the time they got home, with boxes of leftovers forced on them by Allura, the two were exhausted and just crawled into bed.

Lance had just barely drifted off to sleep when something woke him up. He slowly blinked awake and tried to place what woke him when he heard a choked sob. Keith was crying. Lance wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to embarrass Keith, but he couldn't just let him suffer alone.

Lance slowly rolled over onto his back and reached out to touched Keith's shoulder. When his hand made contact Keith momentarily froze before turning and burying his face in Lance's chest as a fresh wave of tears took over. Lance wrapped his arm around him and rubbed his back “Hey it's OK. Shiro's OK.”

“He...He c c could h h ha have d died.”

“Ssshhhh he didn't OK. It's OK Keith. Shiro is OK, but it's OK to cry to. I've got you.”

Keith cried himself to sleep in Lance's arms.

As the semester was coming to a close both Keith and Lance found themselves busy with Finals. The final for their speech class was to give a speech on the hardest thing they've ever had to do. Neither of them talked about it beforehand. Keith gave his speech on entering the foster care system.

When it came time for Lance to give his speech he was extremely nervous, but he stood, walked to the front and began. “The hardest thing I've ever had to do is take this class.” There were some chuckles from the class since no one knew where this was going, but he continued. “My Freshman year, I stayed on campus. During the second semester, my roommate raped me.” The class got scary quiet. The shuffling stopped, people put their phones down, and the whispered conversations of the people who had not been paying attention ceased. “I was so afraid to go back to that room that I spent the rest of that semester in a homeless shelter. I went to the school's administration and while they pretended to care, I was more or less told that my rapist's father was a big donor and I was just a poor scholarship kid. Nothing would be done and nothing was. It was my word against his.”

With that there were a few whispered “That's bullshit, and fucking rich people.”

Lance continued “The first day of class my rapist walked in and casually asked if he could sit with me.” Lance looked up to see his audience whipping their heads around trying to figure out which one of them was a rapist. “Fortunately my current roommate and my best friend was already sitting there and he told him to piss off.” This got Keith a slap on the back from the table next to him and Lance smiled at him. Lance went on to tell about his rapist getting one of his friends to cozy up to Lance and drug him so that him and two friend could gang rape him. He told how the attempt failed and how once more daddy's money had prevented Lance from getting any justice.

Lanced finished his speech with “So while taking this class is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, it also gave me the opportunity for closure. I can confront my rapist who's sitting in this very room right now. I can tell him” Lance looked directly at Lotor “You don't own me. I'm not afraid of you. You are nothing to me.” Lance looked back at the rest of the room and finished “My hope is that the rest of you take away from this, that you should never let one bad thing derail your life. I'm not saying suck it up, but don't let it define who you are. Thank you.”

Lance's speech got a standing ovation from the small class from everyone but Lotor who had fled. Several of the women in class were sniffling and the professor had a hard time getting everyone to calm down so she could give instruction for how grades would be received and dismiss them.

The professor asked Lance to stay and was not surprised when Keith stuck around too “Well I guess it's good you went last. I would hate for someone to have to follow that.”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck “Sorry, I”

“Oh don't apologize Mr. McClain. I am very proud of you. I assure you Lotor Prince had that coming.”

Lance looked surprised as she continued “I knew who you were talking about when you started. You are not the only one who has filed a complaint against that young man. I know of at least one other male student and three females. Who knows how many haven't filed complaints. The faculty despises him.” She flushed and waved her hand, “I shouldn't be telling you this, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone. We are at a loss as to what to do. His father is a State Senator and he practically owns this school. They will never do anything that would draw negative attention to Senator Prince, or this institution. What you did today took guts and I applaud you." 

Lance smiled and asked in a teasing voice “Does that mean I get an A?”

She chuckled and said “You'll have to wait and see like everyone else.

Lance and Keith both got A's.

Keith and Lance had plans to spend Christmas day with Allura and Shiro. They had been instructed to be there bright and early for a full day of Holiday “family” fun so the two of them were exchanging gifts Christmas Eve.

Keith want first. “OK. I bought you a gift, but I also spent time and effort getting you something that I didn't spend money on. Which do you want first?”

“Lets save the best for last. Give me the store bought gift first.”

Keith handed over the package and watched as Lance unwrapped the large box “Yeeessssss!” Lance hugged the box “Oh my god, I can't wait to bake now. What do we want first? Cookies? Banana bread? Cake? Garlic Knots? Ooohhhh Garlic Knots.” Lance had a dreamy look on his face as he hugged the Kitchen-aid stand mixer Keith had bought him. 

Keith laughed “I guess I did OK then.”

“No.” Lance scowled “Keith, you spent too much money.”

“No, I didn't. The way I see it is it's a gift for me, just as much as it's a gift for you since everything you cook, I get to eat.”

Lance eyeballed him for a second before smiling “OK. Fine. What's the thoughtful gift.”

Keith handed Lance a piece of folded paper. Lance unfolded the paper and looked at it “A phone number?”

 Keith licked his lips “Yeah. Remember when you told me about your Aunt Mariana and how she was your favorite, but when you were ten your parents had a falling out with her?”

 Lance nodded and Keith continued “Well I tracked her down. I wanted you to have someone from your biological family that you could”

 “Keith why would you do that?!? It's just going to be the same thing all over again. She'll”

 “Lance stop. I already told her everything. Turns out the rest of the family turned their back on her because she's a lesbian.”

 Lance's eyes widened “Oh my god. Are you.....you mean....she's really?”

 Keith nodded “She's spending the Holidays with her wife's family. She wanted to fly straight out here to you when I talked to her, but I assured her that you had family to spend the Holiday with and that she shouldn't change her plans. They have two kids, a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. She said she would be looking forward to your call.”

“Keith this is....Thank you.” Lance hugged Keith.

Before he could start crying he said “OK your turn!”

 Lance ran to the closet and pushed the large box out and over to Keith. Keith raised an eyebrow “What the hell Lance? Did you buy me a cow?”

 Lance laughed “No...open it. God I hope you're not disappointed.”

 Lance sounded so nervous it made Keith worry a little. He tore into the paper and cut open the tape holding the box closed. His eyebrows scrunched up as he reached in and pulled out....a small foam mattress? Underneath the mattress there was...Keith slowly smiled “you didn't?”

 “I did. I remember you talking about how much you always wanted one, but couldn't have one. And that you didn't get one now because you couldn't leave it home alone while you worked the long shifts at the bar. Well, now I'm here to help. Don't get too excited though. I'm still afraid you're going to be disappointed.”

 Keith emptied the rest of the boxes contents. Three small dog dishes, some dog toys, a retractable leash, some doggie bags, heartworm medication, flea and tick medication, and....prescription eye drops? “Well, where is he?”

 “Um she” Lance was cut off by the doorbell “Is here, the neighbors kept her overnight. Remember please don't be disappointed. Let me explain.”

 Lance opened the front door and was talking to the neighbor kid before he took something from him “Tell your Mom I said thanks again. I really appreciate it.”

 When Lance turned back around he was holding a small black and white ball of fluff. Before Keith could say anything Lance started rapidly talking “So, I know that you probably wanted a pit bull or a German Shepherd, or a Lab of some kind, a big manly dog, and it was my intention to get you something like that when I went to the shelter.”

 Keith watched with interest as Lance cradled the little dog to his chest. “When I got there she caught me eye. She was shaking in the back of her cage. She watched me everywhere I went and when I asked about her the adoption assistant helping me said she had been there for six months. He said that she was afraid of people. She was brought in when her previous owners’ neighbors called animal welfare on them. They kept her chained to a tree in the back yard. Apparently they had kids who used to throw rocks at her and poke her with sticks.”

 Lance's eyes started to water as he continued “The neighbors called animal welfare when one of the kids poked her eye out. Because of the abuse anytime someone asked to see her she would growl at them because she was scared so people thought she was mean or aggressive. They were thinking about putting her down. I asked to see her and she just snuggled right in. I feel like she was meant to be with us, and now I sound like I got the dog for me but...” Lance stopped as he noticed that Keith was now standing next to him petting her head.

 “What's her name?”

 “Um, they called her Clover at the shelter. They said she was lucky to be alive. She's a shih tzu mix.”

 Keith smiled at Lance “She's perfect.”

 As Lance gave Keith a radiant smile back Keith felt his own smile falter.

 “Keith? What's wrong?”

 Keith panicked as he thought _I'm in love with you,_ out loud he said “Nothing. I just hate that she went through that.”

 Keith spent the rest of the day in a fog wondering what he was going to do. _I'm in love with Lance. Completely and totally head over heals in love with him._ The more he thought about it, the more it hurt. All he was to Lance was a friend. A friend that he relied on. A friend that he didn't need pushing these unwanted feelings on him.

 Keith knew that with everything Lance had been through he could never tell him how he felt about him.


	7. Holidays part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are awkward and uncomfortable. Lance doesn't know what he did wrong.

Dinner Christmas day was noticeably awkward and uncomfortable between Lance and Keith. So much so that Allura managed to get Lance alone to help with dishes  “Lance, did something happen between you and Keith?”

Lance glanced down at the counter picking at his hands “I don't know what I did wrong. I think he hates Clover. Or maybe he just got tired of me being so clingy.” Lance looked heartbroken “I mean, everyone I love leaves me eventually.”

“Lance, did you say you love him?”

Lance froze, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “I don't….I didn't…..shit….please don’t say anything. It will make it worse. Please Allura. Not even to Shiro. I can't”

“Lance, I won't say anything, but I think you should sweetie. You might be surprised by the outcome.”

“Or homeless again.”

Allura patted his back on the way out.

A few days after Christmas Allura and Shiro had invited Keith and Lance over for a game night. Keith didn’t tell Lance. He was in full avoidance mode.

When he showed up at their house alone he ran into Allura who was on her way out. “Hey Keith, change of plans, I am going to dinner with a girlfriend. You two boys have fun.”

“Um, OK, you too.”

When Keith got in Shiro was walking into the living room. He handed Keith a beer and pointed at the sofa. “Have a seat.”

Keith suddenly felt like he was 15 again and in the principal's office, well, minus the beer “What’s going on?”

“That's what I wanted to ask you. Where's Lance?”

“Oh, um he had plans with Hunk so”

“Bullshit Keith. I tried to call you to ask if you guys would pick up some sodas on your way over, but you didn't answer so I called Lance. I’m pretty sure he didn't know what I was talking about, but he made up an excuse for why he wasn't coming. He sounded hurt. So, you want to tell me what's going on?”

Keith put his head in his hands and let out a heavy sigh “Not really.”

Shiro just sat back and waited patiently knowing Keith would talk when he was ready.

After a solid twenty minutes of picking at the label on his bottle, Keith dropped his head onto the back of the couch “I'm in love with him Shiro.”

Shiro waited for him to expand on the statement, when Keith didn't he said “OK. So what's changed?”

Keith glared at him “Were you not listening, I said”

Shiro cut him off “I heard what you said Keith. I am asking you what's changed.” When Keith threw up his hands Shiro continued “Keith, you may have just realized it, but you’ve been in love with him. I could see it the first time I met him. I’m your brother. I have never seen you look at anyone the way you look at Lance.”

Keith knew Shiro was probably right “I don't know how to act around him anymore. Everything I do or say feels like I am being obvious.”

“OK, first I actually think Lance is more oblivious than you. I doubt he would realize anything. Second would it be a bad thing if he did know.”

“Shiro, you don't know what he’s been through. He sees me as a platonic friend he can rely on. He feels safe around me. Knowing how I felt, he would lose that. He would feel uncomfortable in his own house.”

Shiro replied “Allura has told me about what happened to him.”

Keith was frustrated “Then how can you not understand that it would be a betrayal to him.”

Shiro sighed “I think you’re making a mistake Keith, but I don't know what else to say to you.”

Keith didn't go home that night. After he left Shiro’s house he went to Rolo a Nyma’s and got drunk and passed out on their couch. The next day when he finally dragged his ass off their couch and went home, Lance had left for the day.

When New Year's eve rolled around, things were still unresolved.

Despite the fun currently being had by all of his friends Lance was having a hard time getting into the New Year’s Eve festivities at Rolo's bar tonight. Rolo and Nyma had decided to do an invite only New Year’s Eve event this year in order to keep it from getting too crazy. They kept it to a handful of regulars and all of their friends and family.

Shiro and Allura, Pidge and her girlfriend Andie, Hunk and his girlfriend Shay, and Lance were all there. Everyone kept trying to engage Lance in their conversations, but he would get distracted and melancholy.

He thought back over the last week and he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. And something had definitely gone wrong. Keith was trying to distance himself from Lance. He still let Lance sleep in his bed, but Keith slept curled up with his back to Lance and he slept as close to the edge of the bed as possible.

Keith had also gone out with Nyma and Rolo on one of his nights off. When they had come over to get him Nyma had asked Lance if he wanted to go out with them, but Keith had replied before he could “Somebody has to stay with Clover.”

Lance had just smiled and nodded “Thanks for asking.”

Then later the next night Keith had left saying he had plans. Right after he left Lance got a call from Shiro “Hello.”

“Lance, hey! I tried Keith, but he didn't pick up. Could you guys stop and pick up some soda on your way over?”

“Oh, uh Keith probably didn't answer his phone because he's on his bike. One of us has to stay here with Clover so”

“I told him to bring her. We want to meet her.”

Lance's heart had dropped as he continued to try and make excuses “Well, she's afraid of strangers, so....Sorry Shiro. Maybe next time.”

As Lance thought back on the event he realized that the pain that he felt then was his heart breaking. Lance had known he was in love with Keith for awhile. He never would have told him. Keith didn't need someone like Lance in his life. Lance didn't know if he could give Keith the kind of things he would want from a boyfriend.

Besides that, he was afraid of ruining the relationship that they had. Keith was his best friend and Lance had a hard time imagining what his life would be like without him. However as midnight approached and champagne was being handed out for the midnight countdown and toast, Lance watched everyone pair up for another New Year's Eve tradition, the first kiss of the new year.

Lance looked at Keith behind the bar wiping down glasses and paying no attention to the activity around him. Lance realized that he really didn't have anything left to lose. If he was going to lose Keith, he was going to do it in grand fashion. Just burn it all to the ground for one glorious second of making Keith understand what he was to Lance.

As the countdown began Lance made his way toward Keith with a single minded determination, having no awareness that possibly the only person in the bar that wasn't watching him was Keith.

“Nine!"

 

_ Please just let him understand how much he means to me _

 

“Eight!”

 

_ Maybe we can still be friends _

 

“Seven!”

 

_ Share joint custody of Clover? _

 

“Six!”

 

Lance vaguely registered Nyma saying “go get him tiger”

 

“Five!”

 

_ Well at least Nyma's on my side _

 

“Four!”

 

_ Nyma...please don't let me lose Keith and my family _

 

“Three!”

 

_ Oh god what am I thinking, why won't my feet stop _

 

“Two!”

 

_ He's staring at me now _

 

“One!”

 

Keith's brow furrowed “Lance, what” he was silence as Lance's lips met his. Keith eyes widened and he froze as his brain short circuited. One of Lance's hands was behind his neck and the other was on his waist, fingers slowly curling into a fist in his shirt.

As Keith’s brain caught up to what was happening and before he had a chance to respond Lance pulled back and stumbled a little, he had tears rolling down his cheeks “I'm sorry.” Then on a choked sob he added “I love you.” As he turned to run Keith caught his arm and hauled him back hugging him tightly.

Lance stuttered through “It's OK Keith you don't have to”

“I love you too. God Lance. I love you so fucking much.”

“You do? But, you've been avoiding me. I was afraid that I had done something wrong.”

Keith held Lance's face in his hands and kissed his tears “No baby, you've never done anything wrong. I just got scared. I was afraid that you would see how I felt about you and it would make you run away. I'm so sorry for being an idiot.”

Keith leaned in and kissed Lance. This time went much better. Lance tilted his head to the side allowing Keith to deepen the kiss and Lance just melted into him. It was so much better than Keith had ever imagined. Lance was just the right amount of soft and because he didn't drink he tasted sweet, instead of the bitter taste that came with drinking beer.

When the two separated this time Keith smiled at Lance and brushed his cheek “You wanna sit back here and wait on me. We can talk more when I'm able to get out of here.”

Lance nodded “Yeah.” He went over to sit on the stool that was kept behind the bar and was promptly assaulted by Nyma. She hugged him tightly “I am so freakin happy.” When she pulled back Lance saw tears on her face.

“Nyma are you crying?”

“Yes. Do you have any idea how long I have been rooting for this? And not just me. Sweetie we were all rooting for you two. I have never met two people more perfect for each other.”

Lance chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck “Nyma it was just a kiss.”

“No sweetie. It was the start of something amazing. Mark my words.”

When the night wound down and it was time to close up the bar, Lance and Keith headed home. Once home Lance suddenly felt very self conscious. He wasn't sure how he should act or what he should do. Feeling nervous and stupid, while Keith was brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, Lance got ready for bed and crawled into the bed in “his room,” not Keith's.

I mean they were....what now. Could he still expect to sleep in Keith's bed? If he slept in Keith's bed, would Keith expect anything from him sexually. Wouldn't it be like he was teasing Keith to sleep in his bed and not “sleep” with him.

“You're thinking too hard again.” Lance startled at hearing Keith's voice from the doorway.

He looked down at his hands clenching the blankets in his lap where he was sitting up in the bed “Hey Keith.”

Keith walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed leaning across Lance's legs so he could look him in the eyes. Lance was suddenly very aware of Keith's naked chest. Keith always slept in sleep pants or just boxers and was always shirtless. It never bothered Lance before, really it didn't bother him now, but he was very aware of it.

Keith pulled at Lance's chin making him look up “Talk to me. What's going on in that head of yours?”

Lance shrugged so Keith continued “Nothing's changed Lance. At least not for me. I was in love with you when I  slept in the bed with you last night. And the night before that, and for a while now. What about you? Were you in love with me last night?”

Lance nodded.

“Last week?”

Another nod.

“OK. Then there's no reason that we can't continue to sleep in the bed together.” Keith leaned in and kissed Lance and Lance immediately tensed up. Keith pulled back and ran a thumb down the side of Lance's face “Just a kiss babe. I'll never ask you for anything you're uncomfortable with, but if you want, I won't even kiss you unless you initiate it.”

Lance dropped his head forward onto Keith's shoulder “No, I don't want that. The kissing is fine. I'm sorry. I just”

Lance was interrupted by Clover's barking. The little dog was stretched up on her hind legs on the side of the bed trying to get their attention.

Keith picked her up and set her on Lance's lap “Clover wants you to come to bed too.”

Lance smiled “Well, I guess, if it's for Miss Clover, then I'll come to bed.”

Keith picked Clover up off of Lance's lap and held his hand out for Lance. Lance took his hand and stood and they walked hand in hand to the bedroom.

When they got to the bedroom and into the bed Keith scooted closer to Lance “Is it OK if I hold you?”

“Yeah, I'd like that.” Keith tugged Lance in closer and spooned him and the two settled, but not for long. Clover was heavily offended since she always laid in the middle. So she just started at their feet and walked up the seam in the covers and when she reached their heads she stepped on them and then curled up on the pillow at the top. They couldn't stop laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have three dogs, all rescues. I am a huge rescue advocate. That's part of why I brought in Clover. That part at the end, with Clover walking up them and across their heads, I absolutely have one that does that. My husband and I are not allowed to snuggle LOL.


	8. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's Aunt comes to visit. Lance talks to Keith about what Lotor did to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***warning*** Lance describes what happened to him to Keith.

Lance's Aunt Mariana came to visit with her family the first week of January. Lance went to pick them up at the airport. 

He recognized his Aunt as soon as she entered the baggage claim area. When he waved she ran forward and wrapped him in a warm hug.

She was shorter than he remembered her being, of course that was probably because he had grown a lot since he was 10. She was still thin, with her beautiful long brown hair.

She stepped back taking in her nephew “Look at you! You're so handsome. I’ve missed you so much.” She pulled him into another hug. “Sweetheart, I am so sorry about what happened with the family. I’m sorry I wasn't there for you. I am so angry with my sister, turning her back on her child. Shutting me out was one thing, but you. And allowing that man to beat you. I would have killed him.”

Lance smiled at his Aunt rapidly spitting out her words, angry for him “Aunt Mari, it’s OK. I’m OK.”

She eyed him carefully “you look good, happy.”

He held her hands “I am happy.”

She nodded as she finally turned to introduce him to the woman patiently standing behind her holding onto two slightly less patient kids.

“This is my wife Sara and our kids Isabel and Sebastian.” Sara was tall and blonde. Lance thought she looked like a model.

He shook her hand “It’s nice to meet you.”

He was caught off guard as she pulled him into a hug “Hey, none of that formal stuff, we’re family. It's nice to meet you too. You are all I’ve heard about since Keith contacted Mari.”

Lance smiled and then squatted down so he was eye level with the two little ones. “Hey guys. I guess I am your cousin.”

The little boy made a sour face “You’re old.”

Lance busted out laughing as his Mothers admonished him, both a little embarrassed. Sara clarified “I am so sorry. We just spent a week with some of their other cousins who are all a little closer to their own age.”

Mariana added “I am the youngest in my family and Sara is the oldest in her’s so since we’re in our early thirties, all of their cousins are younger.” She added in a sad voice “At least the ones they know.”

Lance hugged her again “Well, now they have an old man for a cousin.” Everyone laughed. “What do you say we collect your luggage and get out of here?”

“Sounds like a plan. Plus, I want to hear more about this Keith.” His Aunt teased.

Lance rolled his eyes, but smiled at her.

Allura and Shiro had insisted on meeting Lance's family while they were there so, one afternoon they all loaded up into the minivan his Aunts had rented and headed out of the city.

When they arrived Allura greeted the group and Lance made introductions. Everyone gravitated to the kitchen area where Allura was working on preparing lunch.

Mariana followed Allura behind the counter “What can I do to help?”

“Would you mind cutting up the fruit for the fruit salad? It's in the ice box.”

Mariana got the fruit and got to work.

Shiro smiled at Mariana “I appreciate you helping, I’m afraid I’m pretty useless.”

Keith winced “still having trouble with the prosthetic?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to control and it rubs what's left of my arm raw.”

Sara cut in “That's because it’s a piece of shit.”

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly at the woman's blunt language. Then everyone but her wife was a little surprised when she hiked up her palazzo pants and took off her boot.

She grabbed Shiro’s had and brought it right above her knee “feel right here.”

Shiro was a little freaked out, but he felt and he felt  _ a seam?  _ “What is that?”

“That is my prosthetic.” She smiled as she continued “feels and looks like human skin. It's fully integrated with my biology. Full sensory capabilities, but at the same time it's twice as strong as a normal human limb.”

“How did you…”

“It's a prototype for a biotech company I work for. I was a Navy Seal. Had to have my leg amputated after a mission went south. The shitty prosthetic that the VA set me up with inspired me to go to school and get my degree in bioengineering.” She patted her leg “this baby is one of my biggest projects.”

Shiro was a little envious “That's amazing.”

“You know, the company I work for, Biorhythims, has a division in Chicago. If you guys didn't mind the drive every two weeks, I can get you into a clinical trial. If you're interested?”

Shiro had to swallow around the lump in his throat as he looked to Allura. Allura nodded and spoke for both of them. She had tears in her eyes “That would be lovely. I don't know how we could possibly repay you.”

Sara looked into the living room where Lance and Keith were playing with the kids in the floor, keeping them occupied. She looked back at the couple and smiled “from what I’ve seen this week, we’re practically family. Family doesn't keep tabs.”

Mariana added “She's right. What you’ve done for my nephew….you were family to him when he thought he had none.”

Allura smiled “Lance is easy to love. He has such a kind heart.”

“He’s always been that way. He was always bringing home stray or injured animals when he was little. And being the youngest of seven kids he sometimes got lost in the crowd. He was always so soft spoken and sweet.”

Allura nodded very much able to imagine all of that “He still is. I mean, you have met little Clover right?”

Sara nodded “Very briefly. She hides. She's understandably terrified of the kids, given that a kid is why she's half blind.”

Shiro said “Don’t feel bad, she doesn't really like us either.”

Allura nodded her head in agreement “I think Lance and Keith might be the only to people alive that dog likes. And she absolutely adores the two of them.”

Shiro added “And while it might be normal to see Lance walk around carrying a dog like a baby and cooing at it, that is so not normal for Keith. I can never decide whether it's cute or creepy.”

At the end of the afternoon Sara got the Shirogane’s contact information and promised to be in touch about setting Shiro up with someone at her company's Chicago division.

At the end of their trip, they said their goodbyes with promises to keep in touch.

Once they had left Keith collapsed onto the couch and Lance followed him laying across the couch with his feet propped up on the end and his head in Keith's lap. “Dude, having company's exhausting.”

Clover let out a yip as she hopped onto the couch and then climbed onto Lance's belly to curl up.

As Keith ran his fingers through Lance's hair he chuckled “I think that's her way of saying, you have no idea.”

“Yeah. What's sad is that their kids were actually really well behaved. It made me realize just exactly how bad my nieces and nephews were.”

They sat like that for a bit with Keith running his fingers through Lance's hair and Lance petting Clover. “So I told my Aunt Mariana about what happened with Lotor. It gets a little easier every time I talk about it.” He paused for a moment “I haven't really talked about it to anyone in any detail.”

Keith's hand stilled “Do you want to?”

Lance scooped up Clover and sat up across from Keith “I feel like I need to tell you.”

“Okay?” Keith drew out the word, unsure where this was coming from, but wanting to give Lance whatever support he needed.

Lance hesitated “Are you sure? If you don't want to hear it I understand, I don't”

“Baby, it's fine. Whatever you need.”

Lance licked his lips and looked down at his hands. He took a deep breath and began “So, he came in drunk in the middle of the night and he dragged me out of the bed by my hair. He said that he had heard that I liked cock and he asked if I sat in bed at night lusting after him. When I tried to object he punched me. My nose started gushing blood. Then he grabbed my hair again and dragged me up and pushed me face down over my desk. He said you’re in luck bitch, I didn't get laid tonight and a hole is a hole.”

Lance paused to collect himself so he could continue. Keith felt paralyzed, he didn't know what to do or how to help his boyfriend get through this.

When Lance continued his voice was shaky “He….he ripped my boxers trying to get them off of me. He couldn't, it was dry so he just kept shoving. I tried to scream, but he had a hand over my mouth and he just tightened it. When he finally pushed in, I felt….I’ve never been in that much pain in my life. It shot up my spine and I just….I couldn't breathe because of the blood in my nose and the hand over my mouth. I blacked out for a bit. When I came to, he had just finished.”

Keith could feel the tears freely flowing down his cheeks. His heart felt broken, he wanted to hold Lance but his boyfriend’s posture was closed off. His feet were on the couch with his arms wrapped around his legs and his face burrowed into his knees.

He sobbed before continuing “Keith, he tore me up pretty bad and he didn't use a condom. I…..I take tests every three months. I just, I needed you to know. I’m sorry. If you change your mind or you want me to leave I” Lance was crying too hard to finish.

Keith was moving then, pulling Lance out of his cocoon and into his arms “Lance, baby, no. I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

Keith held Lance until he had calmed down a little. “Hey, look at me.”

Lance did and Keith kissed his forehead “When is your next test?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“We’ll go together. I’ll get tested with you. I’ll start going with you every time.”

Lance managed a small smile before dropping his head onto Keith's shoulder “That would mean a lot to me Keith. And thanks for listening.”

“Anything you need, anytime.”

“I promise I’m getting better, but sometimes I still feel dirty. I still feel like I’m going to make you dirty.”

Lance picked his head up and looked at Keith again “I was a virgin and he took that from me.” Tears started to fall again “I wanted my first time to be with someone I loved, but”

“It will be Lance. He raped you. Until you give yourself to someone willingly, you're still a virgin.” Keith kissed the top of Lance's head  “Please don't ever think you're dirty or wrong, you're the best person I’ve ever known.”

The two sat holding each other for awhile longer before Clover made her need to potty known. They took her for a walk. Called for some Chinese takeout for dinner and went to bed early.

A couple of weeks later, true to his word Keith went with Lance and they both took a round of STD tests. Keith knew he was clean, he always used protection even for blow jobs, but the anxiety waiting for the results was still terrible. He could not image what Lance went through every time.

Tests for both came back clean. It didn't make Keith's overwhelming desire to kill Lotor any less. God help that man if Keith ran into him on campus again.

 


End file.
